The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

A President Who Has Learned Nothing

by Jonathan S. Tobin

President Obama’s Inaugural Address was
well delivered and, as we have come to expect from him, quite eloquent.
It had the usual obeisance to the traditions of American democracy and
the virtue of relative brevity. Yet there was nothing in it that showed
that he had learned a thing in the four years since he first took the
oath of office.

The address was a clarion call for the country to get behind the
liberal agenda he supports. Fair enough. But, like much of what has come
from the White House since November, it illustrated that this president
was not interested in compromise or listening to any views but his own.
If this speech is to be treated as sign of what will come, the next
four years will be filled with more bitter partisan argument and
ideological intransigence from the president. Even as many Americans
were reveling in the feelings of unity that this ceremony engenders in
all patriots, President Obama was throwing down a gauntlet to his foes
and saying that he will redouble his efforts to demonize Republicans.

The president had a lot to say about gay rights and global warming,
but for those wondering if he had any new ideas about working with his
opponents in an era of divided government, there was little sign that he
cared do so. He ignored the problems of a weak economy, instead merely
saying that it was recovering. Those looking for an indication that he
intends to address the deficit—the greatest long-term threat to our
continued prosperity and security—got no comfort. Indeed, the president
seemed to say that entitlement reform was a nonstarter in a second Obama
administration and that class warfare will be a constant. His
hypocritical attack on those who engage in name-calling, which he views
as the preserve of Republicans, was a graceless note coming from a man
whose campaign devoted itself to smearing his opponent last fall.

Looking abroad, President Obama may believe that his second term will
be one in which there will be no more war. Unfortunately, the Taliban
and al-Qaeda may think differently. So, too, may the leaders of the
Islamist regime in Iran whose efforts to get to get a nuclear weapon may
have more to say about the success or failure Obama’s second term than
anyone else. His mention of “engagement” was particularly ominous, since
it was his foolish attempt to make nice with Iran (prominently
mentioned in his first Inaugural Address) that wasted most of this first
term and brought us even closer to nuclear peril.

But the main takeaway from this speech is that the president isn’t
prepared to give an inch on his desire for more spending and taxing or
to contemplate the reform of Medicare and Social Security that would
allow those programs to endure. If his first term was marred by anger
and arguments in which the president rarely treated the opposition as
either legitimate or worthy of consideration, the second term may be
even worse. The bottom line here is that a re-elected Obama is
determined to take this country to the left with a big-government
liberal agenda and will not consider any alternative. Elections do have
consequences, but no one should think this will or should be accepted by
Republicans.

A wise president would take the lessons of the past four years and
adjust his policies and shift away from the ideological blinders that he
came into office with. But Barack Obama is not such a president. The
speech had all the signs of hubris that often lead presidents into the
arrogant assumption that they can as they like in their second terms.
That leads more often than not to disaster. He may think he can take us
back to the era before Americans realized that liberalism was a god that
failed. But those who see this backward-looking and extremist stand as a
threat both to our liberty and our future should take it as a reason to
redouble their efforts to oppose his plans.Jonathan S. TobinSource: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/01/21/a-president-who-has-learned-nothing-barack-o/Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.